The Other Way Around
by TheWolfAndTheRose99-2
Summary: The Doctor has been alone for a while now, as we know he should never be. So what happens when he meets Scarlet Cooper? She's brilliant and beautiful, and he finds himself falling in love with her. But Scarlett has had a hard life, and can he make her better? 11 X OC fic
1. Scarlett Cooper

_**Ok ok ok s**__**o guise. I was thinking, why is it that in doctor who (or at least since 2005- I've only seen little bits of classic who) that every single companion falls at least a little **__**bit in love with The Doctor and he never reciprocates the feelings- (except for Rose and River) so I was thinking what if The Doctor got a new companion who he started to fall for, but she didn't seem that interested? So the yeah my mind went overboard and**__** this fell out, let me know if you think its any good **____** by the way this is set post River and Clara ok? Ok.**_

_**Eleven x OC**_

_**Disclaimer: anything you recognise is the BBC's, anything you don't is all mine bitches.**_

Scarlett was annoyed. She was supposed to be going onto stage in ten minutes, and there was absolutely no sign of her co-star Finn, they were starring together in a play, and it was the biggest break she had gotten in months, the theatre was packed and this was her big moment. She had given up everything for this. She had given up the little family she had in Bromley and moved to the big apple, New York City, at the tender age of twenty three to try and catch a break.

A year later and her efforts had been fruitless, until a director named Mark Mayer liked her and asked her to star in a play, a modern take on Shakespeare's Macbeth, and she had worked for months just to get the part of Lady Macbeth, and then months more to get good enough. She had sent her family tickets to come, but she had heard nothing back. She assumed that they still weren't talking to her, which she _totally _didn't care about. Or at least that's what she convinced herself.

But she didn't have time to think of that, she needed Finn to get his butt onto the stage as soon as possible, because the curtain was opening soon. She stopped outside his door, and knocked. Silence. So she knocked again.

"Finn!" she called, no answer "Finn, we need to go on. Marks freaking out, Finn, come on!" she opened the door and screamed. Finn was dead on the floor, and standing over him was something that looked like it had come out of a horror movie. It was blue; with fangs covered in what she could only assume was fins blood, with claws at the end of its fingers. The eyes were as black as the night, and it looked menacing. She opened her mouth to scream, but her mouth was quickly covered by someone's hand, and the door shut in front of her, she heard a strange buzzing sound and the door clicked locked, _this is weird_ she thought. She couldn't see her attacker, so she did the first thing that came to her mind, she bit down on their fingers. Hard.

"OUCH!" the person shouted, she quickly turned around to see a thin looking man standing in front of her, wearing a grey tweet jacket and what looked like a waistcoat with a bowtie. She raised an eyebrow, "Did you just try to kidnap me?" she asked shocked

The Doctor rubbed his hand, "What, no? I just saved your life thank you very much! And you bit me!"

"What was that thing?"

"You bit me!"

"Hello?" she said, waving her hands in front of her face, "Big freaky guy in there, and my Macbeth is dead! Shouldn't we call the NYPD or something?"

The Doctor looked up at her for the first time, and gasped. He had known some pretty human girls in his time, but this girl was truly beautiful, even by Gallifrey high standards. She had long auburn hair, which was curly and almost came to her waist, with large blue eyes and a button nose. Her face had no spots or blemishes, not even a freckle, apart from one beauty spot situated underneath her left eye. Her eyelashes were long and thick, and she was about the same height as him, but her legs were lean. She was wearing a tight red dress with black shiny heels and crimson red lipstick and she just had something about her that drew you too her. Then The Doctor realised by her arched eyebrow that she had probably been talking to him and he had probably been staring at her, for a very long time.

"Right, sorry, I'm The Doctor," he reached out his hands

"Doctor who?" she asked

"Just the Doctor." His hand was still hanging in the air

"What, you're just called _The Doctor?_"

"Yes, and you are?"

Scarlett paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to trust this man, who had showed up out of nowhere, saved her life and zapped the door shut. She slowly took his hand and shook it, "Scarlett Cooper," she said.

"Scarlett Cooper, great name that! Now the sonic lock won't hold him in there for that long, and I need to stop him from ripping apart the audience, and _why _are you dressed like that? I thought this was one of those edgy casual New York theatres?"

"Well, I'm actually Lady Macbeth," Scarlett said proudly, holding her chin up, but then she noticed the clock on the wall, "Or at least I was, mine and Scott's understudies are probably on the stage now, and I'm probably fired." She frowned a slightly. The Doctor gave her a look of sympathy, but then in that moment the alien came busting finally through the doors, and out of instinct The Doctor grabbed Scarlett's hand. "Lovely to meet you Scarlett Cooper, now we better run for our lives!"

And they took off running down the hallway.

Line break -

Scarlett kicked off her shoes and sat on a box rubbing her feet. The Doctor Soniced the lock and sat down opposite her.

"Well that plan was bloody brilliant doctor, you just made the thing angrier, now if it gets out its going to destroy the whole city."

"Well I will agree that was not exactly the plan, but I guess we've got hmm… about three and a half minutes before it finds us and rips us to shreds, so we've got a little time," he smiled "tell me about yourself."

Scarlett laughed "we're probably about to be killed any moment, and you're asking personal questions?"

"Yeah, why not?" The Doctor smiled back

"Well, why not I suppose" Scarlett laughed "my names Scarlett Bailey Cooper, I'm twenty three, I used to live in Bromley with my mum and my sister but I sort of, left them all to move here. I'm an amateur actress, and I've always dreamt of making it big but… my mum wanted me to stay, work the café with her but I didn't want to do that, I always wanted more. So I left, and now she won't even talk to me. I could die here tonight and she wouldn't know." By this point, she had hung her head slightly, and her hair was hanging over her face, and The Doctor noted that she looked a lot move vulnerable then she had previously seemed, but then the moment was gone, and she went back to her 900 watt smile again. "What about you? You're definitely not from round here, you know too much about all this alien stuff."

"I erm, work for the government."

Scarlett raised her eyebrow at him, "Come on doctor, I'm not an idiot, who are you?"

The Doctor sighed and looked into her eyes. "I'm The Doctor, a 900 year old timelord, I travel time and space in a blue box called the TARDIS saving planets and civilizations."

"Seriously?" Scarlett asked

"Yeah. Do you believe me?"

Scarlett thought for a second, "Well on a normal day I wouldn't, but I don't know, after the day I've had, I'll believe anything." She laughed "So this travelling you do, do you do it alone?"

Scarlett saw a flash of sadness in The Doctor's eyes, "Yeah, at the moment. I used to travel with, with some friends of mine but still… they're gone now. All of them."

Scarlett gave him a sympathetic smile, and put her hands on top of his. "I guess we're pretty alike in some ways then, both of us no friends of family, in an unfamiliar environment, wandering around alone. But still look at you, a nine hundred year old alien, who gets to travel among the stars! We must look so tiny to you."

The Doctor looked up at her and smiled, "I look up to you humans, you're better than my people ever were."

"You say that like they're past tense?"

"They are,"

"What happened?"

"There was a war."

"What like Afghanistan or something?"

"No, no, much bigger."

"Oh, what happened?"

"We lost. Everyone lost, and I ended it. I'm the last one left, in the whole universe."

"I'm so sorry."

The Doctor smiled, "Don't be, Scarlett Cooper, now come on, I've got a plan that just might save the world."

Scarlett smiled and chucked her heels away, The Doctor grabbed onto her hand, and they faced the door, sonic in hand.

"You ready?" he asked

"Nope."

"Me neither, Geronimo!"

Line break -

The Doctor and Scarlett left the theatre, after dealing with the alien problem and walked back to the TARDIS through New York in the dark. Scarlett was bare-foot and still in just the red dress, and The Doctor noticed her shivering, so he pulled off his jacket and wrapped it round her. She smiled and hugged herself into it, and they continued their walk.

"So doctor, how far is this blue box of yours?"

"Oh it's not that far, just around this corner." The Doctor said. And then there was silence. Scarlett wasn't sure why but it felt like a comfortable silence, rather than an awkward one. She had barely known this man a day, yet she felt comfortable around him. She trusted him.

They came to the TARDIS doors, and Scarlett raised her eyebrows. "This is it? You travel in here?" she asked

"yep," said The Doctor, opening the door

"Isn't it a bit small?" she asked

"Take a look," The Doctor nodded to the door, and Scarlett stood hesitantly in front of him.

"Give me one good reason" she challenged

"alright, how about this. It travels in _time and space_, good enough?"

"and how do I know that's true? You could be any crazy serial killer, luring young girls like me into your blue box."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

They stood for a moment and stared at each other before Scarlett broke out into a grin, and The Doctor mirrored it. She gasped at the interior. "IT'S BLOODY HUGE!" she shouted.

"Oh yeah," The Doctor said smugly, running to the console

"What, how do you fit all of this in here."

"Well, long story short, its-"

"It's _bigger on the inside_" Scarlett beamed.

"yep, that's the one. And it travels to all sorts of crazy alien planets."

"So what now doctor? How can I go back to my normal life in that crappy theatre, which I've probably been fired from, after seeing all this?" she asked, looking around

"Well," The Doctor said "You could always come with me."

"Come with you where?"

"Anywhere, _everywhere_ in fact. The whole of time and space at our fingertips and I'm offering it to you Scarlett Cooper."

"Why me," Scarlett asked

"Because." The Doctor said simply

"Because what?"

The Doctor sighed, "Because, when I told you about my people, you understood. You were right, me and you we're alike. You understood and you appreciated, and you didn't ask questions that you knew I wouldn't want to answer. You acted smart and thought on your feet, and saved my neck and yours more than once. You left all of your family to venture out on your own to New York City to catch a break, because you didn't want a crummy little café. You wanted to see the world and you wanted it to see you. Not many people are brave enough to do that. You Scarlett Cooper, are one in a million." He said with a smile.

Scarlett smiled back, lighting up the room. "Good answer," she joked

"So, all of time and space, where do you want to go?"

Scarlett paused for what felt like years, before smiling and saying "Show me somewhere _new"_

And The Doctor smiled. New was what he needed. Enough living in the past and wandering around alone because he was so hung up on River and Clara. Enough moping around for Amy and Rory, and enough watching Donna in the street walk around with Shaun and her daughter. Enough looking at that mobile waiting for Martha to ring, enough running into Sarah-Jane 'accidentally' and _enough_, thinking about Rose and the duplicate. Everyone seemed to be somewhat happy with their lives apart from him. But that was about to change. He had Scarlett, and he was going to show her somewhere new.


	2. The First Trip

Chapter Two:

The Doctor began running around the controls pulling leavers and pressing buttons as Scarlett was thrown around the room, clinging onto the railings. "Blimey! It's a bit bumpy isn't it doctor?" Scarlett shouted

"Just a bit!" The Doctor shouted back. They locked eyes and grinned at each other, and soon the TARDIS came to a complete stop.

"Right!" said The Doctor, "Outside those two doors, could be any place, anytime, _anywh__ere_. Anything that ever has been or ever could be could be outside those doors." He said gesturing to the TARDIS doors. He began to walk towards them, but stopped when he realised Scarlett wasn't behind him. He turned and saw her standing still beside the console.

"Well aren't you coming?" he asked

"Well yes, anything, _anywhen_ sounds great but doctor I don't know if you've noticed but I'm still in this stupid dress and I don't have any shoes."

Truth is The Doctor _had_ noticed her dress. He had noticed it a lot. He had definitely noticed it way too many times than he probably should have considering he was a 1000 year old time lord. He quickly snapped out of his trance, and returned his gaze to Scarlett's eyes, and smiled.

"Right of course, wardrobe room- through that corridor, take three lefts, two rights, sixth door on your left!"

Scarlett nodded and scampered off in search, and The Doctor sat down on the jump seat. "And be quick about it!" he called

"Oh whatever time boy!" Scarlett called back from down the hall, intent on taking all the time she needed. She managed to find her way into the wardrobe room easier than expected for such a giant ship, and hadn't got lost once.

She walked inside and gasped. There were floors and floors of clothes from all eras, some of which she recognised and some of which she didn't. She trailed along the racks, fingering items of clothing when she came to a rack that looked like her kind of style and size. She was astonished at the amount of different clothes in all sizes and colours and shoes of all kind. She quickly grabbed a pair of red converse and some denim shorts, with a white t-shirt and black hoodie jumper- she also backtracked and grabbed a pair of mirrored sunglasses, because she didn't know whether it would be sunny or not. And then she looked down at her legs, and realised it could be freezing cold as well, but felt like The Doctor was probably getting impatient about waiting for her to be ready. So she stuffed the sunglasses in her pockets and tied her hair into a high ponytail, and ran off into the console room.

-Line break -

They stepped outside the TARDIS doors, and Scarlett was astonished. The sky above her was a light violet colour, and the temperature was warm, but not too hot, so she was glad she had gotten the jumper. The cityscape was beautiful, and tall buildings with lights stood all around them. The grass beneath their feet was a light blue colour, and the pavement was a slightly darker blue. Dark purple-ish clouds lurked about in the sky, and two suns beamed above them.

"This. Is. _Beautiful._" She said, looking around in awe. The Doctor just smiled at her reaction, she was so cute when she smiled. "I can't believe that I'm standing on a _proper alien_ planet. How weird is that?!" she exclaimed

"You'll never forget your first that's for sure" The Doctor said with a smile

"You're saying there'll be more?" she asked, trying to hide the hope in her tone.

"With you Scarlett Cooper? Of course." The Doctor said, smiling at her "I've got so many places I want to take you."

Scarlett smiled at him, and suddenly felt like a child again. The Doctor seemed to know so much about this concept of time travel and aliens, in fact he was one himself! Whereas she knew nothing. She didn't even know where she was.

"So where and _wh__en_ exactly are we?"

"Hmmm…" the doctor stuck his tongue out, and tasted the air "Lantera, by the taste of it. It's a Wednesday, about fifteen hours into their thirty hour day, so basically noon. 43rd century."

Scarlett looked at him her mouth slightly agape. "You can tell where and when why are, _by tasting the air?_" The Doctor nodded, smiling slightly. "That is bloody weird, if you ask me" Scarlett said

"Oi, I'm not human like you remember? I'm a timelord, of course I can bloody tell the time by 'tasting' the air. Have been able too since I was a kid"

"Well yeah, but that was ages ago. I mean what are you 900 did you say?"

"Well more like 1000 odd nowadays, I've lost track if I'm honest."

"Blimey," she muttered

"Come on then, much to see." Said The Doctor, grabbing her hand and running down the road.

-LINE BREAK-

Everything seemed relatively normal on the streets, and The Doctor was quite content watching Scarlett's shocked reaction to almost everything around her. She was running from stall to stall around the marketplace he had taken her to, with his unlimited credit stick, trying and buying anything the locals had to offer. At first she had been a bit confused when they spoke perfect English to her, but he quickly explained the TARDIS translation system. She reacted reasonable okay, and didn't freak out too much.

He managed to finally drag her away from the market, and they strolled through the sea of people.

"So what do you think of this place then?"

"Oh it's beautiful; I've never seen anything like it! Heck I didn't know there _was_ anything like this!" she gushed, biting into an odd purple fruit that she had bought. She sighed contently when the juice seeped over her tongue and went down her throat.

"This is gorgeous, what is this?" she asked

"Oh it's a reyberry, they grow everywhere around here," The Doctor said, pointing up to a tree where kids where climbing and picking them, before running them into shops and stalls to sell them. Then he noticed one shop that none of the children were going into, and he wasn't sure why. The shopped seemed as normal as the others on the street, but was deserted. He was about to say something when Scarlett took the words right out of his mouth.

"How come none of the kids are going in there? Seems like a normal shop to me?"

"Oh you're good Scarlett Cooper, I like you. Just what I was thinking"

She smiled up at him, and then said "we should probably go and check it out."

"Sounds like a plan" he said, smiling back. He grabbed onto her hand, and they ran to the shop, not seeing the shadows move around them.

_**Cliff-hanger yeah ik, but I couldn't be bothered to write anymore and I really needed to update this. I'll update again as soon as I can, reviews really motivate me to write more as well. So do that because you luuuuvvv me. xoxoxoxoxoxox**_


	3. Falling?

The Doctor had to admit that Scarlett, was _good_.

She had practically solved the problem on Lantera almost all by herself, saved the missing children and helped him convince the invading force to clear off. The more time The Doctor spent with Scarlett on that one day, the more of her personality he uncovered. She was compassionate and humble and she didn't quite realise just how good she actually was. The Doctor was an old man, but in all his years of time and space he had never quite felt someone's personality radiating off them so much. And he liked it.

She seemed to just brighten any room she stepped into, and everyone seemed to fall in love with her, on first sight… but not him of course. No, he wasn't doing _any_ of that anymore. Things that happened between him and river and him and Rose had caused him to vow to never fall in love again. But Scarlett was a good friend, a _really good_ friend.

He let them back inside the TARDIS, and she ran inside with a smile before leaning against one of the side control panels.

"That was exhilarating!" she exclaimed, getting her breath back

"Yeah it was pretty cool wasn't it?" The Doctor asked, smiling

"Where next?" Scarlett asked

"Well you're keen aren't you, I don't know where next, maybe a trip into the past is in order?"

"Wow," Scarlett sighed "It's like, back home, people think that time travel and stuff is impossible but here I am, walking around a bigger on the inside phone box, with an alien, planning a trip into the past? I'm worried I'm going to wake up and this is all a dream."

"Well I can definitely assure you that this is real," The Doctor said with a soft smile "and I want to give you something too."

"Oh okay, what is it?" she asked. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver yale key, attached to a chain. "A key?" she asked, raising her eyebrow

"Not just any old key, Scarlett Cooper," he said, lowering the key into the palm of her outstretched hand "a key to the TARDIS! It's about time you had one"

"Oh my god," Scarlett exclaimed clutching the key in her hand. She silently vowed never to let it ut of her sight before turning to The Doctor and giving him a hug. It was very unexpected, but The Doctor hugged her back, glad to see the child-like joy in her eyes. The joy that he did not want to ever see vacate her.

She eventually released him, and he took the key from her and lowered it over her head, so it fit round her neck, and she then pulled out her hair from underneath, beaming up at him. And he grinned back, and they stood there for a long time, before she quickly turned around and circled the console, asking him just how far back he could go in time. The Doctor sighed slightly annoyed at her dismissal of what he really thought was a _moment_ between them. Not that he cared or anything, but he was curious at what exactly that just meant to her. But he didn't ask, and just kept up appearances, explaining to her that they could go as far back as she wanted, on any planet to see any civilization in existence, and smiled along with her watching her eyes dance, reflecting the lights from the TARDIS around inside them.

-Line Break-

Their next trip was into the past, and The Doctor took them to a snowy night in 1932 to some posh Hollywood club, and Scarlett got all dressed up and The Doctor put on his 'tux of doom' and smiled to himself, anticipating her reaction to where they were.

He definitely wanted to impress her, as he did with all of his past TARDIS occupants of course, but there was something else there, something hanging in the air- like a ghost. But a nice one. There was this aura around Scarlett that exuberated off of her, and drove him crazy.

And he wasn't sure why.

Even her _smell_ which was odd. Being a timelord he could smell pretty well, and her creamy skin had the perfect scent balance of honey and strawberries and every time she walked past him it would float around him, wrapping him into comfort and warmth. How could soap smell so good on someone?

But then every time these thoughts of her beautiful wide eyes, and her perfect plush lips or her silky hair or her general personality being _wonderful_ would sneak into his mind, he would quickly push them away. He was almost embarrassed. He had a rule nowadays, _do not get emotionally attached. Do not get emotionally attached._ Because everyone he loved, seemed to leave him. Or be taken away. Rose and Martha and Donna and Amy and Rory and Clara and even _River_, who was supposed to always be there for him, she was taken away.

So why was he suddenly finding himself stepping closer and closer towards Scarlett's room, and why is he knocking at the door? Why is he staring into her eyes as she grins up at him, eyes sparkling telling him that she is ready, and why is he suddenly holding her hand and running with her through the corridors laughing like he's never had so much fun in his life?

Why can't he shake the feeling that he's starting to fall in love with her?


	4. She Would

"Wow doctor, that club was amazing- all the old movie stars in there!" Scarlett said as they walked back to the TARDIS in the cold night.

"Yeah it was a good laugh wasn't it," The Doctor said smiling, trying not to react to how close Scarlett was to him as they linked arms walking through the street.

"I'll tell you what was a good laugh, your dancing!" Scarlett said with a chuckle

"Oi," said The Doctor "My dancing is top notch, I've had many compliments on it I'll have you know, Cooper."

"Oh really who from, your own reflection"

"Oi, me and him aren't on speaking terms after how ridiculous he made me look when I tried to gel my hair all sticky-uppy"

"You did look quite daft didn't you," Scarlett said, chuckling at the memory from the day before at The Doctor looking pretty odd "maybe you should get your hair cut shorter, and then it would go more sticky-uppy, as you said"

"Wouldn't work," The Doctor said, sighing "It's a timelord thing, it would just grow back."

"Really?"

"Yep, this is the look that I have to stick with until my next regeneration, but it's not too bad is it?" he said, puffing his chest out a bit

"Not too bad at all," Scarlett said smiling, as he unlocked the TARDIS doors.

"Oh so you like the way I look do you?" He asked smugly as they walked in, anticipating her reaction. Did she like his look? The thought sent tingles down his spine.

"Oh yeah," she said nonchalantly, hanging her coat on the coat stand "You are quite hot, considering"

Now this got his attention, "considering what?" he asked, worried

"Considering you're a thousand year old alien." She said with a grin.

"Right, yes." He said, going back to his work, pretending like she didn't totally just crush his hope and watching her walk off towards her bedroom out of the corner of his eye.

"But still," she said, poking her head around the entrance to the console room "I would" she said with a wink and then turned to walk away.

The Doctor blushed tomato red, and Scarlett just giggled as she headed down the corridor, pulling her hair up into a messy bun and preparing to get ready for bed. Messing with The Doctor was _hilarious_ she thought. He was like a teenager, so bad with expressing his feelings, and it was good to have a laugh with him, loosen him up a bit.

And don't get her wrong, she _would. Oh she definitely would._ But not yet. Not until he could come to terms with whatever _this_ meant to him, and not until she could come to terms with her own past, that she had tried so hard her whole life to keep under wraps.

_**Short I know, but the next chapter will be up soon when we get some revelations about Scarlett's past, and The Doctor opens up to her about some of his own past experiences. **_


	5. I'll Tell You Mine If You Tell Me Yours

The Doctor had been travelling with Scarlett cooper for a few months now, and she had never failed to fascinate him. The way she skipped through the TARDIS, the way she always looked for a non-violent ay to sort things out. The way she reacted to alien customs, and the way that she just seemed to make him a lot happier than he had felt with a long time.

But still there was something that he knew she was hiding from him. She never asked to visit home, because her mother still wouldn't return her calls, and neither would her sister which he knew upset her, even if she never said. And then almost every night he would hear her in her sleep, screaming out in all sorts of different languages, which the TARDIS refused to translate for him, which made him believe the TARDIS knew why. After all, it wasn't exactly normal for a twenty three year old to be able to speak fluent Farsi, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Arabic, let alone cry out for help in all of them in her sleep.

He tried to ask her about them several times, but she would brush him off each time saying she 'didn't want to talk about it' or that it 'was too soon for her' and then act like everything was fine. But he was worried about her, he really was. He knew what it was like to be plagued by nightmares, because he had experienced them himself. Almost every time he drifted off to sleep he would see Rose falling into the void, or Donna having her memories pulled from her, or Amy vanishing in front of his very eyes, or Clara walking into his timeline or River dying in the library. Or the ones of the time war, and the master and the daleks and all the other horrors that had imprinted onto his mind.

He was no stranger to nightmares.

oOo

one night, Scarlett lay awake in her bed sweating and breathing heavily, having had another nightmare about the black orchid so she decided to get up, and walk about the halls of the TARDIS to calm herself down. She had a feeling that the TARDIS knew about her nightmares, and her past, what with being a sentiment telepathic flying space-and-time ship, but she didn't suspect that she had informed The Doctor. Which she was happy about. He wouldn't react well.

So she let herself out of her door, and pulled her dressing gown on and set off barefoot to stroll through the corridors, thinking about all the good times in her life to help calm herself down.

And then she heard the screams.

Screams of agony, and what sounded like crying. Tears of anger coming from down the hall. Coming from The Doctor's room. She knew it was his because she had seen him go into it, an old oak door with circular carvings all over it, that she thought was his native language. The only one that the TARDIS didn't translate. The Doctor seemed to be shouting it in his sleep as well, which was distressing to her, and she didn't know why.

But then it stopped and she heard him awaken with a gasp, breathing heavily and standing up. So she took a breath and opened the door, and he nearly fell backwards onto his bed.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you it's just… you were screaming out, in your sleep, in a weird language that the TARDIS didn't translate. I just wanted to see if you were okay" she said, looking around his bedroom.

It was large, but simple with mostly wooden furnishings and a red silky looking bedcover. Thick old-looking books were piled up everywhere, and he had a desk full of notebooks and random electrical experiments, and papers with drawings, designs and calculations were scattered everywhere, some stuck up on the walls. And then next to his bed, on his dresser was a photo album, that looked like it had been looked through hundreds of times, from how the pages were starting to fold.

"Oh well sorry if I woke you," he said, running his hand through his hair and giving her a reassuring smile "but you were probably already awake weren't you?"

"How did you know?" Scarlett asked, confused

"I've heard you screaming out in your sleep in all sorts of languages for months, and I know that you're no stranger to midnight walks. So do you wanna tell me what your nightmares are about?" he asked.

Scarlett looked at The Doctor deeply, for the first time. He always seemed so strong around her, but he sounded generally fearful in his sleep, and he looked so innocent now, standing in front of her with his hair ruffled and hanging slightly over his face, no top to hide his skinny figure and stupid-looking striped pyjama bottoms. He almost looked like a child.

So she sighed, and walked over closer to him, and then sat down on his unnecessarily soft bed and turned her face to look at him.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours"

oOo

"Well I've got more than one nightmare that plagues me every night, so they usually vary on some kind of rotor," the doctor said, sitting down beside her, but keeping a safe distance so it wouldn't get too intimate. He sensed that she was scared, and he didn't want to come across as too forward.

"Well I've only got the one, but it's a bit one" Scarlett said, avoiding eye contact, "How about for every one you tell me about, I'll tell you part of mine?" she said, risking a look up at his face.

"Okay, but where to start…" The Doctor said, and he flicked his hair "Well I've told you about the time war, that's the most common one. But I guess I'll start with the story of Amelia Pond. I have that one a lot." He said, with a wistful smile.

"Who's Amelia then?" Scarlett said, sitting up slightly, crossing her legs, intrigued by the thought of delving slightly more inside The Doctor's mind.

"Well, I've told you about regeneration haven't I? How I change my face and that?" Scarlett nodded, prepared to hang onto his every word, "Well I had just regenerated into this, my eleventh body, and I crashed into her garden. She was just a little kid, but she was very brave. And I helped her out with a crack in her wall, which turned out to be a split in time and space, and the two realities were bleeding through on each side. I thought I'd sorted it, but there was just something off. The house, it was too big, too many rooms. Amelia just lived there with her aunt, because she didn't have parents… and her life just didn't make sense. But I was stupid, wasn't paying attention and then I jumped back inside my blue box, promised Amelia that I'd be back in five minuets. But somehow I got it wrong and it turned out to be twelve years, and she was all grown up with this great _great _read hair, and she was sassy and smart and went by the name Amy instead. So I sorted the problem, or so I thought, with the crack and then ran off again in my little blue box. And then when I came back, turned out I was another two years late" he said with a chuckle

"Timing really isn't your thing is it?" Scarlett said

"Ha, nope it isn't. But still she travelled with me all the same, and then her fiancée too, Rory Williams, he was great. And we adventured together for years, but then I thought they'd be safer without me, because I was going to die. I knew it, and some very complicated things happened, and I was fine, but they had their home life to go back to. But still we adventured on and off, and then I took them to new York… and we had a run in, with the weeping angels, these creatures that zap you back in time and feed off your stolen time energy, all the moments you would've had but they can only move when you aren't looking at them, and… it went a bit wrong. There were a lot of paradoxes that we ended up running into, and then I thought I had sorted it Scarlett, I really did. But then there was one last angel that I didn't see and it, it got Rory. And I tried to take her back inside the TARDIS but she was adamant, she said that she would stay with him, forever and I knew what was going to happen and I knew I couldn't stop it, because she was much too brave. Amelia Pond. She closed her eyes and the angel zapped her back. To be with him, like she should've been."

"But why didn't you just jump back into the TARDIS and get them?"

"Once they were gone, we were in a graveyard you see, and as soon as they were zapped back their gravestones appeared. They lived long lives, the pair of them but I couldn't change the past, their future again. There were so many paradoxes that day that it would've torn New York apart. So I lost them, when I promised I wouldn't. And I still see her face a lot, that face she made when she closed her eyes and then disappeared from my view, forever."

He hung his head slightly, and wiped his eyes before looking back up at Scarlett, and smiling slightly "Go on then, tell me part of yours."

So Scarlett smiled back, a teary smile, and then tried to come to terms with her own memories, as she began to tell The Doctor the tale of Scarlett Cooper.


	6. Runaway

_2003_

_Scarlett huffed, and stormed across the room arms folded, in yet another argument with her mum, Macey, over her school work. She was sick of having the same battle with her, but she wouldn't give in. her dad had always said that they were both as stubborn as each other_

"_But I keep telling you mum, I'm not going to study poxy French like Sophie did! I want to study drama and be an actress, why can't you understand that?" she shouted for what felt like the thousandth time, how many times would she have to say it before her mother finally drilled it into her head?_

"_Scarlett, your bloody thirteen years old, you don't know what you're talking about! Studying drama, it's a waste of time, when are you going to understand I only want the best for you?!"Her mum shouted back, equalling her volume. Screaming matches were becoming a lot more regular between them_

"_Oh don't even bloody go there mum, god you are so controlling all the time! You just want me to be like Sophie don't you? You want me to be her bloody carbon copy because she's just the perfect child isn't she?!"_

_And she was. Sophie, her sixteen-year-old sister had it all. She was gorgeous, with lighter hair than Scarlett and slightly darker eyes with a smouldering look that would send any boy in a twelve mile radius to her feet. She was brainy too, and was predicted all A's and B's in her exams, and wouldn't oppose her mother. She just smiled and agreed and then got wasted behind her back on vodka that she would shoplift from Costco. But of course her mother didn't know that, and Scarlett was a lot of things, but not a snitch._

_Scarlett was a lot different from Sophie, she was pretty, if you looked past her odd braces and she had beautiful light blue eyes if you looked past her thick glasses, but she still had nice hair, which she thought was her strong point, not that many people paid attention to her anyway. She wasn't super brainy like her sister, but had enough general intelligence to get through school on a mediocre level, but her strongest subject was drama. She felt home onstage really, and it was like she was in a different world. A world where she didn't have to be Scarlett cooper, the girl living in her sister's shadow, the girl who's dad walked out. The girl who didn't have many friends to turn to about her sister's alcoholism._

"_Well maybe I do want you to be like her Scarlett, at least she's going somewhere with her life! Unlike you! Do you really think you're going to make it as an actress Scarlett? You haven't had any training; you're not going to amount to anything in life if you keep on with this stupid fantasy! Look at me, I did french, and I'm doing okay."_

"_Oh really mum? Look at you! You own a beat up old café that serves grease ridden chips and poxy burgers that nobody ever really goes in anymore! You dress up like a tart but can't seem to get rid of that sad, old, single aura that stays around you. You don't even know your own daughters! No wonder dad left!"_

_Her mother gasped, and stood closer to Scarlett expecting her to recoil and apologize. But she didn't. She stood her ground and looked her mother in the eye. "I pity you." She said._

"_How dare you speak to me like that" her mother said, and then gave her a harsh smack across the face. Scarlett immediately turned around and fled to her bedroom, not willing to show her mother the tears that were forming in her eyes. Neither did she see her mother shrink down onto the sofa, and sob quietly at what she had become, just like her own mother._

_oOo_

_Later that day, Sophie was home, chewing gum like crazy to try and get rid of the scent of alcohol on her breath. She was sitting down at the dinner table, starving, and waiting for her mother to hurry up and serve it, but she was waiting for Scarlett. She had already called her several times, but there was no answer. She had been quiet up there for hours since their argument._

"_Scarlett Cooper, this is the last time I'm calling you! Get down here, __**now**__!"_

_But still there was no answer. Macey sighed. "Sophie love, run up and get your sister down here please" she said._

_Sophie nodded quietly and scurried off upstairs, approaching her sister's door and gently knocking._

"_Scar, come on, mums super pissed so please come down for dinner? I promise I'll talk to her"_

_No answer_

"_Scarlett?" Sophie asked again, before hesitantly opening the door, and finding the room empty, with the window open and the curtains blowing._

"_**MUM!"**_

_OoO_

"_So let's just go over this the final time ," the detective inspector said_

"_It's ; actually or just call me Macey" _

"_Sorry, ." he said, coughing "So you and Scarlett had a… disagreement earlier today, and you both said things you didn't mean, and she ran upstairs at what time approximately?"_

"_about six"_

"_and she didn't come down for dinner at seven after you called her several times, so you sent your daughter up to fetch her and…?"_

"_She was gone. A lot of her clothes, and some toiletries but nothing too personal. Her journal, and the necklace her father bought her. The window was open, so I guess that was how she got out." Macey said, biting her nails._

"_Thank you , this information has been very helpful, and we will do all we can."_

"_But will you find her? Will you find my little girl?"_

_The DI looked at her sympathetically, and gave her a pat on the shoulder._

"_We will do our best, to find her."_

_oOo_

_Scarlett was sitting in an internet café, in south Manchester. After the argument with her mother, she decided that enough was enough and left. She wrote a note and left it under her sister's pillow, knowing that she wouldn't snitch her. Because Scarlett had had enough and she wanted to be herself. And if that meant packing her life inside a backpack, taking £500 quid out of her mother and sisters wallets combined, plus from her sisters secret booze fund, then so be it. _

_She sat in the café, looking for somewhere that she could possibly stay for a while, until she got on her feet. Being a teenage runaway was harder than she thought._

"_This seat taken?" a female voice said_

_Scarlett looked up, and saw a woman who must have been nineteen at the most, with long blonde hair, and big green eyes and too much make up, stand in front of her, pointing at the empty stool beside Scarlett._

"_Oh no, feel free." Scarlett said_

"_So, what you doing here?" the girl said, in a thick Manchester accent "You sound way too posh to be from here, let alone be on your own."_

"_Oh I've, I've left home."_

"_How comes?" the girl asked, taking a sip of her coffee._

"_My mum, we had a fight, we've been fighting a lot actually. And I had enough. So I thought I'd come here and try to find my dad, last I heard he was here, in Manchester. I've no idea where though, and I don't know how long it's going to take me to find him."_

"_Oh so you're looking for a place to stay then?"_

"_Yeah, but all these places I'm finding are either too expensive or totally disgusting." Scarlett sighed_

"_Well I can help you out," the girl said "I should probably mention, my names Melanie and my sister she's got this dead nice flat, you could come and stay with us… if you want."_

"_How much?" Scarlett asked_

"_Free, she won't mind, she's dead nice. Always picking up strays… so you up for it then? We'll look after ya."_

"_Wow, thanks so much. That's so kind; I don't know what to say. Oh and I'm Scarlett." Scarlett said, outstretching her hand to Melanie, who shook it gratefully._

"_Lovely to meet you Scarlett, now how about you get the next round of coffees in, and I'll call my erm sister?"_

"_sounds great"_

_So Scarlett got up and trotted off to the counter, and Melanie pulled out her phone. "Yep, I've got one. Thirteen, really pretty if we sort out the glasses and the braces, and trusts easily. I think we've got a keeper brad"_

_**Reviews please and thank you xoxoxoxox**_


	7. Jenny and The Red Orchid

Scarlett was starting to cry now, and The Doctor rubbed her arm up and down sympathetically, scooting slightly closer to her.

"So what happened next?" he asked, softly. But Scarlett just shook her head, "Oh I was such an idiot back then, how could I have trusted Melanie." And then she looked back at The Doctor, "I don't think I'm ready for the rest yet. How about another one of your stories?"

"Okay," he said "Have I ever told you about my Daughter Jenny?"

"I thought you said all of your family died in the time war?" Scarlett asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh this was afterwards, I was travelling with two friends of mine Martha, and Donna and we crash landed on this planet called Messaline, where they were at war with this species called The Hath, these big fishy things and they were all running about through these underground tunnels, believing the city above them was inhabitable. And they had this, machine, which took a DNA sample from a single male or female organism and split it, into a biological child. It was how they were breeding soldiers, all giving DNA, and creating ready grown soldiers full of soldiery knowledge. So when the TARDIS pulled us there, they forced me to put my hand in it, and I didn't know what it was doing but suddenly there she was. My daughter. It was weird." He said

"What did she look like?"

"Blonde, average height, slim, cheeky, big blue eyes. And she was very passionate. But still when she blew up the tunnel leaving my friend Martha on the other side, and branding her collateral damage I was angry. I thought she was nothing more than a stupid bloody solider, and I didn't really accept her. And then we met the general who told us about the war, it had been going on for generations apparently and when I tried to stop it they said we were pacifists and chucked us all in jail. Donna gave Jenny her name, after I called her a 'generated anomaly' and it sort of stuck. I still refused her s my child, until Donna got out my stethoscope and we listened and she had two hearts, like me. Time Lord."

"So what happened next?"

"Well we escaped, and ran around trying to stop the war, and Jenny was becoming less and less like a soldier. I told her about the time war, and she showed me a trick or two, jumping through lasers and whatnot, and then we found it. The source, what the two sides had been fighting over. They didn't even know what it was, thought it was a weapon but it was actually a terraforming device, to make whole planets habitable, and it had turned the area where it stood like a garden, it was beautiful. And you see we got Martha back, she was with The Hath and Donna had worked out this number, code system that was printed on the areas. It was a date, and we worked out the war had only been going on for seven days, but with the amount of casualties and new generations, they just mythologised their whole history."

"Wow, I guess that shows you the power of word to mouth, hey doctor." Scarlett said

"Oh yeah, it was like Chinese whispers. And I explained that to them, as they met in the room, prepared to shoot each others brains out. But I spoke to them, and told them the truth and I ended the war, and it was so magnificent. But then the general, he wouldn't believe our ideas. His life's work, everything he had devoted himself to believe him had become lies and he couldn't accept that. He pulled his gun out, and tried to shoot me, but Jenny got in the way. And she got shot in the chest. And I held her, as she died on the floor of the gardens. We had so much to see me and Jenny, so many stolen moments. My daughter… my fantastic little girl…" The Doctor said, trailing off, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

"And she didn't regenerate then?" he shook his head "She wasn't enough like me," he said looking down.

"Nah," Scarlett said "She was too much like you."

oOo

_Sophie sat on her bed and read the note for the fifteenth time._

_Soph, I'm so sorry. I can't live with her anymore, I just can't do it. She won't let me be myself so I've gone to find him. To find dad. But don't tell her, please. I don't want her to come looking for me._

_Just look after yourself Soph yeah? Because I worry about you a lot with the drink and that. Please don't do anything you'll regret. I love you._

_Scarlett xxx_

_Sophie crumpled, leaning against the door so her mother wouldn't be able to come in, and let herself cry, for the first time in a while, taking another swig of the emergency bottle of vodka she kept under her bed for when she felt especially emotional which recently happened to be a lot. Her sister had been missing for two days, and she was getting worried. Why wouldn't she at least call? Just to let her know she was okay. Her mother was in pieces, thinking it was all her fault, and she was acting odd. _

_Sophie just wanted everything to go back to normal._

_oOo_

_Scarlett was quite at home in Melanie's sisters flat, and there were quite a few other girls who lived there too, but she was the youngest. Melanie roomed with a girl named Francesca, who was sixteen and liked to listen to rock bands and inject heroin. And Scarlett didn't mind, because she didn't bother her, and she was nice enough, even with her drug habit. But there was one slight problem, she only spoke Spanish. So Scarlett had to pick it up quite quickly, and could already say certain things like 'Pass the crisps' and 'where's the TV remote' which were quite handy._

_The other girls living there were Ulrika, an eighteen year old girl who had left her abusive father in Russia and met Melanie in the public college. She didn't speak much English, but Scarlett understood that that's when Melanie met Brad, her boyfriend. He was a bit shifty, but didn't say much to her and the other girls worked for him, to help manage the rent. Scarlett knew that she would have to get some kind of work soon, as she couldn't just scrounge off them forever, because she would feel guilty._

_Down the hall was Amira, a seventeen year old Arabic girl and Sue-Lin a Japanese girl, who also spoke little English. But everyone in the flat apart from Melanie did the multi lingual thing pretty well, so Scarlett just hoped that she would pick it up quickly. She was never very good at French in school, but she would at least give this a try. Just short, simple phrases would have to do._

_So she flopped down on her bed, and switched the telly to some makeover show, as Francesca wasn't paying much attention anyway and settled down to a quiet night, when suddenly Melanie came into the door. "Scarlett darling, I've got the best news ever!" she said, with a smile._

"_Oh really, what?"_

"_Well I know a mate, who's a dentist who said he can totally get those disgusting metal things off your face, he's dead legit, honest."_

"_Really? Wow. My mum said I had to keep them on for another year."_

"_Nah there's no point in that, we've got to get you pretty if brad's gonna let you stay here"_

"_Why do I have to be pretty?" Scarlett asked, confused_

"_You'll see. Come on" Melanie said._

_oOo_

_Scarlett licked her teeth, and they felt normal. She didn't remember much from the dentist, because Melanie gave her a pin to calm her down, which knocked her out. Her glasses were gone too, and Melanie had gotten her some contact lenses._

_It was funny; she thought as she looked in the mirror, she had never felt so beautiful._

"_¿qué te parece?" she asked Francesca, who was looking at her through her dark sunglasses, with an almost sad look on her face._

"_Oh que van a tener un día de campo con usted, niña estúpida Inglés." Francesca said, before looking back down to her magazine_

"_Thanks" Scarlett said with a smile, hoping that what Francesca has said was a compliment._

_She didn't know what the other girls did for brad, to pay the rent, but she knew that they were all somewhat afraid of him, and that worried her. She knew that he would probably want her to do the same thing, and she almost didn't want to know what it was._

_oOo_

_It had been a few months, and Scarlett was relatively happy at Melanie's sisters flat, but she worriedly anticipated the day that brad would ask her to work. The other girls were taken out two or three times a week, and they didn't seem very emotionally stable. They all seemed to have drug and alcohol problems, and Scarlett was starting to smoke cigarettes quite often, but that was as far as she would go._

_The only other girl that didn't do drugs was Melanie, who would give her cigarettes and show her tricks like blowing smoke rings, or pushing it out of her nose which she enjoyed, and Scarlett started to bond with her. She was almost like a big sister._

_Scarlett trusted her._

_That was until the day brad came, and asked Scarlett to work for him. Brad was about six foot tall, with dark brown hair and extremely pale skin, and there was something about him that Scarlett that didn't trust, that sent chills down her spine. He approached her as she sat on the sofa, munching on a cheese sandwich, and came and sat next to her._

"_So scar, you've been living here for a while now, for free…"_

"_Oh yeah I know, and it's dead nice here, and I should really pull my way and I will. I'll look for a job but it's quite hard considering I'm only thirteen."_

"_Well you see, I can give you work, and you've only got to earn £100 quid a week, to cover the bills. And then any extra, is yours."_

"_What kind of work is it?"  
"You'll see, it's nothing bad. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 9am with Amira to keep you company on the job." Then he noted Scarlett's slightly worried expression, "Honestly Scarlett don't worry, it's nothing bad. Trust me." He said, before getting up, and heading off to Melanie's room._

_Scarlett was still sceptical, but tried to calm herself down. She was probably jumping to conclusions anyway. She hadn't developed enough language skills to ask the girls about work, but she knew a lot more than she had a few weeks ago, which was progress. Which was good. So Scarlett sat back, and switched on the TV, and found the news._

_And then she gasped. It was full of pictures of her, terrible school photos and cringy family photos. And then there was a video, of her mum and her sister._

"_Please, I just want my daughter back, so if anybody, anywhere knows anything, please phone in. it's so hard you don't understand, I just want her back."_

_And then the newsreader gave out a number to call for any information, and Scarlett turned the TV off. She was not going back there. Never._

_oOo_

"_It's time, sweetheart. Time to go to work." Brad said, as he opened up Scarlett's door. She was dressed in the outfit that Francesca had picked for her of a denim skirt, and a halter neck vest top, with a leather jacket and ankle boots. And some dark sunglasses. From what Scarlett could translate, she said that 'they wouldn't think twice' about it._

_But still Scarlett was worried, so she grabbed the leftover over £400 that she had from when she had left and stuffed it in her sock, and put her necklace on. Just in case she had to make a quick getaway._

_Brad took her and Amira, who was dressed in some denim shorts and a crop top, with flip flops showing off her slim feet, and equally dark sunglasses, in his Mercedes, which was probably the nicest car that Scarlett had ever been in, and drove them for a long time. They were in the car for at least two hours, and Scarlett didn't know where they could be going._

_Until they stopped, and pulled up by a roadside, where a lot of other girls were standing around, chain smoking and getting in and out of cars. Brad let Amira and Scarlett out and said to Amira what Scarlett understood as 'look after her' in Arabic, before driving away at top speed. Scarlett couldn't help but notice that he didn't have a licence plate._

"_So what happens around here then?" Scarlett asked Amira, trying to stay positive, but Amira just looked at her, kind of sadly, and then walked away, before five minuets later, being picked up in an old jag but a guy in his late thirties. "Ah Amira, my special favourite" he said, before speeding off._

_Scarlett was starting to feel seriously unnerved. She could feel eyes watching her, and she was seriously considering running. She didn't know what was happening but she knew that she didn't like it. Not one bit._

_And then a man who must have been about twenty three, pulled up on a Harley Davidson motorbike, and stopped in front of her._

"_Hmm first timer, £200?" he said, eyeing her quickly up and down._

"_I'm sorry what? What's actually going on here?" she asked_

"_Are you one of Brads?" he asked. Scarlett nodded._

"_I thought so. Now get on the fucking bike or you'll have me and him to worry about, love."_

_So Scarlett gulped, and jumped onto the back of the motorbike. Hoping that he wouldn't notice her crying._

_oOo_

_SIX MONTHS LATER_

_Running, she was running._

_She was right. She was so stupid._

_It was a prostitution ring. A big prostitution ring, called the Red Orchid. And it had taken her so long to get out. She had been passed around by filthy men, and she had no say in it. Brad had threatened her, saying if she went to the police, he'd kill her and her family. She wished that she had never run away. And that's she had never trusted Melanie._

_She had progressed far in her languages, not that she spoke to the other girls much as she hated them, all of them. For not helping her. For not warning her._

_She hated herself._

_She had seen the pleas on the news by her family, looking for her and nearly burst into tears when she saw her dad on there as well, pleading her return. But she couldn't get out. When she wasn't locked inside the flat she was being dropped off on the walk-by, the other girls nicknamed it, having to make money._

_She didn't like to talk about it._

_She had stared to smoke a lot more, and did a little bit of cocaine, but not as much as Amir and Sue-Lin, who seemed to do it at least five times a week. She did it once a week, if that. Cigarettes were more her thing. Especially since her fourteenth birthday, she was starting to feel a lot more grown up, and the smoking helped her cope._

_The only update she got from her family, where the ones she saw on the news. She knew her mother was pregnant, because she had been showing in the latest help video. She didn't really know how to react to that. She couldn't phone, because brad had taken her mobile, because she was in too deep now. But then she saw the one newscast that changed everything._

"_Sophie Cooper, sister of missing person Scarlett Cooper has been pronounced dead after being found unconscious in her bedroom, thanks to liver failure, due to an alcohol overdose."_

_And that was enough for Scarlett. Her body was wracked with tears and she couldn't stop. For days she sat in her room and she cried hysterically. She wouldn't work. Brad slapped her round a bit but she didn't respond. She just kept on crying and screaming until she couldn't make any more noise._

_And then one day, brad had enough. He grabbed her and bundled her downstairs, kicking and screaming and threw her into the back of his car._

"_Oh you won't work now huh scar? Darling? Fine. See what happens to little girls who don't do what they're told."_

_**Wow super long I know! So the next chapter will be The Doctor talking about Rose, and then the final instalment of Scarlett's story reviews please! oh and i fixed chapter four (i acidentally repeated chapter three oops lol) but its fixed now, and the chapter 'She Would' is up**_


	8. Who We Are

_**Warning; mentions of rape, domestic abuse, and The Doctor being sad which I thought I should warn you about because it makes me super sad to watch, let alone write or read. Also some swearing.**_

The Doctor now had his arms around Scarlett and was cuddling her softly, as she stopped telling her story rather abruptly, and he noticed that she was crying. He just hugged her a little tighter, and gently stroked her hair. "Do you want me to have a go now?" he asked.

Scarlett sniffed a little, before nodding her head and saying "Yeah."

"Okay then, Scarlett let me tell you about my best friend Donna Noble. Oh she was so fantastic. I met her for the first time, just after I had lost Rose- I told you about Rose didn't I?"

"Yeah you did, how long had it been since you had lost her?" Scarlett asked, turning slightly in order to face him.

"About twenty seconds, so as you can imagine- I was a mess. Tears down my face, the works. And then suddenly, she just appeared. All abrasive and red-headed in a wedding dress demanding me to tell her where she was, which was understandable as she had just appeared on my TARDIS, halfway down the aisle she was. She thought I'd kidnapped her, thought her 'friend' Nerys had put me up to it, and she was going ballistic, shouting the odds. And then to march out, she threw open the doors and we were in space. And she calmed down quite a bit after that. I got her back home, but the wedding was ruined. Her husband, well almost husband, was working with this alien thing, the Racnoss it was called, and they were going to destroy earth. He didn't love Donna, he just used her to douse her in these particles for their big plan, but we stopped it, Donna and I and she was brilliant. She put me in my place, and almost softened the blow of losing Rose. And then I asked her to travel with me, and guess what she said?"

"She said yes?"

"Not in the slightest, she said I scared her to death, which I did I suppose. I really was a wreck after losing Rose, and even though Donna helped I still didn't care if I lived or died. Nearly drowned myself, but she stopped me. And she told me, when I dropped her off home, to find someone to travel with. That I shouldn't be alone, which I shouldn't not ever, and I learnt that the hard way a little while after. I always need someone." He snuck a glance down at Scarlett, who was leaning against his chest, playing with his fingers yet intently listening to every single word he was saying, he smiled and then continued. "So I found someone, Martha Jones her name was, and she was fantastic, she really was. But she was in love with me, and I was still so hung up on Rose, I treated Martha like she was second-best, and eventually she left. I saw her again, a few times, but we were always a little bit colder, and she always seemed a little bit cautious around me. But after she left, I went off in my box; investigating and suddenly I found Donna again. Out of all the odds, I could've been anywhere in time and space yet there she was. And we saved the world, again, and this time she decided to travel with me. And it was so great. Donna was so amazing and so much more different than what I was used to."

"How was she different?"

"She was just a mate. She knew I still had grief over Rose, and supported me in that, but she didn't _love_ me in that way that others did. She was like my sister and I found myself growing closer with her than I had with anyone before. She never believed in herself, and always thought that she wasn't important, but she was. She was unlike anything I had ever seen before. But then, things started happening around us, and there were all these prophecies of The DoctorDonna, and she created a big parallel world around her once, well twice actually. Based on one decision, of turning right or left and she met someone there. Someone else who was hopping between dimensions. Guess who?"

"Who?" Scarlett asked, intrigued

"Rose. She had developed this way of hopping dimensions, and found herself in Donna's, and then she helped Donna go back and fix everything and the parallel collapsed on itself and then suddenly, there was all this situation with the daleks and stuff and a lot of things happened. You might remember it happening, and suddenly, Rose jumped through and found me again. And I'd never been happier. And to save the world all of my dearest friends were there! Rose and Martha and Mickey and Jackie and Captain Jack and Donna and it was great. And then the daleks captured us, and tried to destroy the TARDIS, dropping it into this like lava type substance and Donna was still inside. And I begged them not to but, she was gone. And I really thought that was it. But inside the TARDIS something happened. My hand, I lost a hand in a sword fight when I first regenerated, and I had enough energy to grow one back- long story, but my hand was there, and Donna she touched it, and there was a human-timelord bio metacrisis, where another me, but human was created. And it caused Donna to have a timelords brain. They saved the day, but he, the other me, was angry, born in war and battle and he destroyed Davros. I tried to save Davros but it was too late. And then I knew what I had to do. I dropped everyone home, and then I went to the parallel universe. And I told Rose to stay, with the metacrisis. It was hard for me; because I loved her so much, but they were both human and they could have a life together. The metacrisis was too dangerous to be left alone, and he was a lot like me when Rose and I first met, she healed me then, so I knew she could do it again. Because I loved Rose, and that's why I let her go. It hurt to walk away, and then my life was destroyed all over again when we got back."

"What happened?"

"It- it was Donna. She-the timelord brain, it was too big for her to handle. It would've destroyed her, burnt her out. So I did what I had to do, it- it wasn't my choice."

"Doctor what did you do?" Scarlett asked, now worried.

"I had to erase her memory, everything to do with me, or aliens, or any of that, had to go. And then I took her home to live a mundane boring human life with her mum and granddad, Wilf, where she would never amount to anything. Because if she ever remembers she'll burn."

"Doctor I'm so sorry." Scarlett said, giving him a hug, because she could feel him starting to break down. The Doctor clutched to her, like a child, and let the real reminants of his 1000 years come down on him. He had faced a hard life and lost so many people, people that he hadn't even mentioned to Scarlett. And finally, it caught up with him.

She sat, and cradled him in her lap as he cried, soft silent tears, and she stroked his hair and whisper -sang to him, an old lullaby that her grandmother used to sing.

_Little baby, on the prairie_

_Don't you cry tears tonight_

_Little baby, on the prairie_

_Don't you give me a fright_

_Close your eyes lay your head_

_I won't let them hurt you_

_Dry your tears, sleepy head_

_And with me you'll always be safe._

And they lay like that, his head in her lap, her fingers delicately tracing patterns on the side of his face, until he had calmed down a bit, and she decided to tell her the rest of his story.

"I'll warn you now doctor. It doesn't get pretty."

_She was running, further and faster than she had ever run before. Six days he had kept her locked up in that warehouse, no windows, no sunlight. Scarce amounts of food or water, and she ha known that he was planning something. She shouted and screamed and cried, and said that she would never work for him again._

_Melanie came and visited sometimes, to try and comfort her. And Scarlett could see the sadness in her eyes. Once or twice back at the flat, she had seen brad hit Melanie, but Melanie never mentioned it. But here, it was worse. Brad was angry and he took it out on Melanie. Scarlett would see him hit her and hit her over and over and over and it seemed like he would never stop. And when he was finished Melanie would say she was sorry and stalk of, not to be seen until the next morning._

_And then one night Scarlett heard him rape her. And Scarlett herself cried on Melanie's behalf. Because Melanie didn't cry, not once. Scarlett was kept locked, in a room, and she would lay there on the cold floor every night singing her grandmothers lullaby to keep herself sane._

_And every night brad would ask her if she would work and she would refuse. Until eventually he got too angry about her dismissal._

_He unlocked the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. And Scarlett still refused. So he hit her, harder than her mother had ever done. And then he hit Scarlett again and again and again and Scarlett screamed for help. And then Melanie came in, and she tried to stop him and then he gave her one almighty smack around her face, and she fell to the floor. Unconscious. But they couldn't see her faint breaths, and Brad panicked._

_So Scarlett took her chance and ran._

_She was running so far out now. They appeared to be just off of a highway and she was in a field, and it was empty. She knew brad was gaining on her and she had been running for so, so long. Her face was swollen and her lip split, which didn't seem to promising. She was so tired, and she could feel herself slowing down. And then she stopped, and sank to her knees coughing and choking and crying._

_And then she heard him._

"_I'm done playing fucking hide and seek Scarlett. And I'm done playing cat and mouse. If you aren't going to work, then you're never doing anything else ever again."_

_He walked closer to her, and she was kneeling in front of him, they were barely three or four feet apart._

"_Please brad," she said between coughs "Just let me go."_

"_I don't think so."_

_And then there was a gun. And Scarlett couldn't run anymore. And then she felt impact, in her stomach. And then she looked down and saw blood, and then she fell. And then everything was black._

_oOo_

_Scarlett opened her eyes and all she saw was white. Bright lights everywhere, she saw her mother, pregnant and her father, standing around her. __**Heaven looks pretty good.**__ She thought to herself._

_But then she heard her mother say, "Oh, Kurt look quick, she's awake. My baby, she's safe!"_

_And Scarlett tried to sit up, but felt pain in her abdomen, and then saw the bandage._

"_Honey you were shot, tell us what happened?"_

"_Honey are you okay?"_

"_I don't know how to tell you this but Sophie's dead, did you know anything about her alcoholism?"_

"_Where were you sweetheart?"_

"_Where have you been?"_

"_I was worried sick"_

"_Please talk to us."_

_But Scarlett stayed quiet for a long time. She didn't answer questions. The Doctor came in and told her that a 999 call had been made by the person that found her in the field. Who was dead when they got there. A girl who looked about twenty, with bleached blonde hair, green eyes and a thick Manchester accent._

_A girl that Scarlett knew was Melanie._

_So Scarlett made a quick statement to the police, but she just said that Melanie was being domestically abused by brad, and told them where to find him. But she didn't tell them about what had happened to her. She refused to. She said that she knew Melanie briefly, and didn't expose her history._

_It was private._

_oOo_

_They had a beautiful funeral for her sister Sophie, and her mother had another daughter, who Scarlett named Melanie, but never really connected to. She wasn't Sophie._

_Scarlett's relationship with her mother after that time was quite strained, and her dad hiked back off to Manchester to be with his new fiancée, and new son that Scarlett hadn't known about. It took a while, but Scarlett got her confidence back. They moved to Bromley, and Scarlett started again. She got back into drama and then moved off to New York. Her mother saw this as her running away again, and then they didn't speak._

_And then Scarlett met The Doctor._

"I was in a bad place back then, Doctor. I started as the girl that was easily influenced, the girl that was pressured a lot by her mother, and lived in the shadow of her apparently perfect sister. I kept secrets, for my own sake, and then I ran away. And if I said I wished I had never run away, then I'd be lying. Because I was born for this Doctor, to be who I am today. Without that experience I wouldn't be who I am today. The people I met, Melanie and Ulrika and Amira and Francesca and Sue-Lyn and Brad and all the other girls, they made me who I was. The days when I would sit on the balcony and smoke cigarettes, having laughs and drinking cans of cheap beer with the others, and the days that I met men on a highway and slept with them for money, were the best and worst days of my life. Because if I hadn't lived those days, who knows where I'd be now? I'd still be the girl who lived in her sister's shadow and wasn't quite pretty enough and never tried anything new. And doctor I've learnt to be more open, like I think you should. You shouldn't bottle things up forever, because you talking, and me opening up about this has and will change us now doctor. We will always have this. I sometimes think, if I had opened up about my sister, would she be alive? If I had left whilst I could, where would Amira and Ulrika and Francesca and Sue-Lynn be now? Would Melanie still be alive? Would Brad still have killed himself in a cold jail cell? But I'll never know, because I lived my life this way, and these were the choices that the universe made for me. And I will just have to go with it. Because no matter how many times life drags you down, there is always a way through all that bad stuff, and always a way into the good."

_**So that's Scarlett's story done, and I think the doctor and Scarlett will become closer now that they've had this experience together. They've bonded. So let the fluff begin!**_


	9. Not Those Times

Over the next few weeks, The Doctor and Scarlett were closer than ever. There was something about completely opening yourself up, emotionally to a person that formed a bond between you both. The night after they had the heart to heart, Scarlett eventually fell asleep in The Doctor's arms, and he sat there wide awake, all night thinking. Thinking about loss, and how he had experienced it more than many, but he could hardly compare himself to Scarlett. Being so young, yet being exposed to that kind of environment… it broke his hearts, it really did.

She was so strong. If she hadn't have told him, than he never would have guessed anything tragic on that scale would have ever happened to her. She deserved so much to make up for it, and he would try to give her that. And he loved her, he really did. He didn't know when it happened or how, but it was just like what he had read in a book on earth many years ago. _'__I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once'__**(A/N: The Fault in Our Stars – John Green appreciation post**__**) **_and he had never realised the magnitude of how much he really had fell for Scarlett.

At first he thought it was just mere attraction, the way he had been attracted to many of his companions. But as he spent more time with her, he craved her. He wanted to drink her in, soak up her very essence of being and store it in a box to keep it for himself forever. He had never felt like this before. Yet she still didn't seem interested. The Doctor had never wanted for female attention, as he always had countless women fall in love with him. It was sad but true. But he had never really gone seeking for attention, as it never really interested him. He had only ever been in love twice, with river and Rose, but he couldn't allow himself to, not really. He had to try his hardest, and somewhat manage to get rid of those feelings, because he knew that Rose was happy with another, and that river was long gone. Merely the ghost of a memory of good times gone by. Which was sad, yes, but in a way, it allowed him to break free.

oOo

"So where are you taking me today then doctor?" Scarlett asked, with a smile

"It's a secret." The Doctor said, smiling back at her. She just gave him an odd look, but leant casually against the console anyway zipping up her soft black leather jacket. She bent down to tie the laces on her red converse, and felt the TARDIS gently take a stop. The Doctor grabbed a big black umbrella, and a bouquet of white lilies and opened up the doors.

They were in a cemetery, a graveyard, but Scarlett didn't know when, where or why but she felt like she recognised the place, and got an odd sense of de ja vu. The rain was coming down heavily so The Doctor put the umbrella up, and Scarlett stood close to him. "Why are we here Doctor?" she asked. The Doctor just nodded over to a direction in the corner, and Scarlett squinted, trying to see what he was looking at. He gave her a soft reassuring smile and said "Go over there Scarlett, see what you might find." He handed her the lilies, and Scarlett looked at him confused but still she ventured out of the umbrella, not really caring about getting wet- knowing that whatever The Doctor wanted her to see was probably important.

She walked for about thirteen metres, and then stopped very abruptly. Oh. This is why she recognised this place, she had been here before. For a funeral. She felt The Doctor's presence come up behind her, and she turned her face to sile at him gently, and then they both stared down at the grave.

"_Here lies Sophie Harriet Cooper. 1987 – 2004. A loving daughter, sister and friend. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her."_ Scarlett read out, trying to stop her voice from breaking. The Doctor held the umbrella over her head, and his, to stop her from getting anymore wet than she already was and Scarlett bent down, laying the lilies on her sisters grave. There were some wilted flowers around it, and the grave was slightly scuffed and old. Not many people visited her here, with her mother and other sister being down in Bromley and her dad being in Manchester. Most of her school friends had probably forgotten about her. It was only Scarlett who would come. And she vowed that she would as often as she could. But would that be enough? Why wasn't there anyone left to love and mourn Sophie, why didn't anyone care? To Scarlett, Sophie was the best person in the world. She deserved so much more than this, she didn't deserve to die. It wasn't fair.

"It's not fair," Scarlett said looking down

"What isn't?" The Doctor asked

"Sophie being dead. She didn't deserve it. And look at this grave doctor, nobody every visits or comes here to lay flowers down, or even clean it. Why doesn't anyone care about my sister anymore?"

"Hey now, plenty of people remember her-"

"Don't give me that bullshit doctor! Nobody cares about her! She's dead and it's all my fault!" Scarlett said, feeling herself start to cry.

"Scarlett, you can't blame yourself for this." The Doctor said, looking at her intently.

"But I can!" Scarlett sobbed "It is my fault. If I had never kept so quiet about her drinking and that she'd still be alive! Wouldn't she?"

"Scarlett-"

"No doctor, just tell me. If I had blabbed would she still be here?"

The Doctor looked into Scarlett's teary eyes. He could never lie to her. "Probably" he said quietly.

"Then I owe it to her to save her," Scarlett said. The doctor was worried about the fiercely determined look in her eye, as she wiped her eyes dry and stood a little taller.

"Scarlett-"

"Doctor you have a time machine for gods sake, why can't we just pop back into the past, and stop her?!"

"Because Scarlett, think about it. If Sophie doesn't die, then you don't have a breakdown. You don't get dragged out by brad and shot and saved. You stay in that grimy little flat for the rest of your life until you're old enough to fight your way out."

"I don't care about myself!" Scarlett shouted fresh tears streaming down her face "If it will make her safe, I'll do anything!" she said quietly.

"Scarett look at me," The Doctor said, clutching her chin and turning her teary face towards his "If all of that never happens. Then you never meet me, we never come here, and you never ask to go back and change things. It's a paradox Scarlett. It can't be done."

"But time can be rewritten!" Scarlett said, crying heavily now, beating her fists into The Doctors jacket. The umbrella had since been thrown away, and floated off. He tried to put his arm around Scarlett, but she kept fighting him and fighting him, pushing him away. But he soothed her, whispering Gallifreyan until eventually he managed to grab her, and clutch her tightly and let her sob into his jacket.

"Not all times Scarlett," he said- his voice barely above the whisper. "Not those times."

_**Kinda a filler chapter before I start doing some more adventurey stuff and then fluffy stuff. Just in an angsty mood today, idk why. **_


	10. Inevitable

The adventures they have together are unlike any other's he's had before, yet exactly the same at the same time. Running around planets and civilizations saving people was what they both lived for. And they were happy, they really were.

The whole time, their whole time spent together was spent running. Both in the figurative and litera sense. There was always the running from the aliens and the monsters and all the other scary things hiding in the dark, but then there was the other side to the running. Running from each other.

They both had feelings for the other, but the doctor could never act on that. Not with a human, not with anyone. Scarlett knew of his feelings, but then chose to block her own. Why? Perhaps we'll never know why she couldn't open herself to love. We know The Doctor and his colourful past and why he can't love. Because there is always another Susan, another Rose, another Donna, another Amelia and another River. There is always another girl to break his heart.

Scarlett has issues of her own involving the past that she could never bring herself to look back on and the hardships she had to face, and the sister that she still blames herself for losing. Things that she found herself only able to ever share with The Doctor, this strange wonderful man with a bowtie and a tweed jacket who's hearts were torn in two. Sometimes she wondered maybe that's why timelords had two hearts, because one would always be broken.

The Doctor's had been ripped out of his chest and smashed to pieces over and over again, but it amazed her how he would always carefully hold them back together before putting them back in and letting them feel again. Scarlett doesn't know if she could ever do that.

And then the night comes when their reserves finally break and their fears are washed away with a combination of alcohol and adrenaline and they finally end up sleeping together and neither regrets it. It happens again, and again but neither of them will ever really put their feelings into it. It always happens quickly, in the dark with heat pouring through their veins, and they never wake up together in the same bed afterwards. She sneaks out or he takes her away, depending on who wakes up first.

But then they do have their good moments, full of laughter and surprise as they hunt down the next evil alien, and she has such a good time, and every day feels like her first trip. She forgets her past and he forgets his, even if only for a little while.

oOo

She ponders these good and bad moments and they fall into a blur as she lays, dying outside the TARDIS doors. The Doctor sits beside her, weeping and begging her to get up, but this was always inevitable. Because she was human and he was a time lord and they would never have worked in this pretence of a stable relationship. She would always die first, it was inevitable.

He begs her to get up, to come back and stay with him but deep down they both know that there is no going back, not anymore. Because he only touched her in the dark and she only loved him during the night.

She tells him not to travel alone, because from the tales he's told of old companions, this is the customary thing to say really, even if she doesn't believe it. Because sometimes it's better to be alone, if it stops you from having your heart broken all over again.

He takes her limp body in his arms after she has slipped away with a final goodbye. There are no heroic last words, and no promise of 'I love you' from either of them, because he isn't sure that it ever really was love, in the long run. Love and lust just rolled into a blur and everything changed for them both.

He calls ahead and makes some arrangements, and then takes her to the graveyard where she can be buried beside her sister. He doesn't alert her mother or her family, because if they cared she probably wouldn't be in the situation. Maybe if anyone bothers to visit Sophie's grave, they'll notice Scarlett's there too.

He doesn't cry at the funeral, and just leaves a single bouquet of scarlet red roses on her grave and gives it one final look before turning around and never looking back. Because looking back is never an option, not for him. The past is the past now.

No more companions, not this time. No more trips, and no more saving people, but no more clouds left to sulk on either. He leaves the world the same way he entered it, a mad man with a blue box who flew away and never came back.

_**Sorry for the sad ending but the story was always heading to this. Also my really bad writers block was preventing me from really continuing this story. But don't think I killed Scarlett for an easy way out, because I was always going to kill her I just didn't think it would be this soon. Thanks for reading and check out my other stories!**_


End file.
